Container for storing and transporting small gas volumes

ABSTRACT

A flattenable container for the transport and/or storage of small amounts of gas consists of flexible sheet material, e.g., a stack of several layers of metallized plastic foil, closed along the edges by cementing or heat sealing. A portion of the container body is formed into a reduced spout which, after having been cut open at its end, can be temporarily reclosed by folding or rolling up. A small area of the container wall may be reinforced by a self-sealing patch which can be penetrated by a probe for extracting a sample of the stored gas.

United States Patent Stich 1 Sept. 23, 1975 CONTAINER FOR STORING AND3.278.085 10/1966 Brown 222/541 TRANSPORTING SMALL GAS VOLUMES 3,473,70310/1969 Lippincott 222/541 [75] inventor: Walter Stich, Hollern, GermanyFOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS 562.703 12/1957 Belgium 141/329Asslgnee- F Aktiengesellscha'tl 159534 933 Switzeflund 222 3 W1esbaden,Germany [22] Filed: Feb. 7, 1974 Primary Examinn-Robert B. ReevesAssistant Examiner-H. Grant Skaggs, Jr. [21] Appl' 440351 Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Related US. Application Data Dubno[63] Continuation of Ser. No. 284,400. Aug. 28, 1972,

abandoned. [57] ABSTRACT A flattenable container for the transportand/or storfi 222/3; 222/92; 222/54] age of small amounts of gasconsists of flexible sheet Flit-ld material, g a stack f several layersof metallized 1 0 222/3 plastic foil, closed along the edges bycementing or 222/572 528 heat sealing. A portion of the container bodyis 56 formed into a reduced spout which, after having been 1 Referencescued cut open at its end, can be temporarily rcclosed by UNITED STATESPATENTS folding or rolling up. A small area of the container 1,409,5443/1922 i-lallock 222/541 all may be reinforced by a self-sealing patchwhich 2,469,307 5/1949 Mechling. can be penetrated by a probe forextracting a sample 2,789,728 4/1957 Britton..... of the stored gas.2,855,006 10/1958 Geisler 3,173,580 3/1965 Campbell 222/107 5 Claims, 4Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 3,907,164

Ruipnem' SEAL.

CONTAINER FOR STORING AND TRANSPORTING SMALL GAS VOLUMES This is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 284,400, filed Aug. 28, 1972 nowabandoned.

My present invention relates to a container for" the storage and/ortransportation of small amounts of gaseous fluids at low pressure.

Such small amounts of gas are required, for example, to test theoperation of gas analyzers, to demonstrate the effect of various gasesin a classroom, or to investigate the suitability of certain fluids fora desired chemical or physical process. In many instances it isnecessary to draw precisely measured quantities of the gas from thecontainer. I

Rigid containers conventionally used for this pur' pose, e.g., of metalor of glass have the drawback that they cannot be completely emptied oftheir contents without the aid of special equipment such as vacuumpumps. Thus, if the gas is stored at low pressure, a substantialproportion of it cannot be conveniently extracted. Storage at higherpressures, e.g., upwards of 1 atmosphere gauge, is more economical butrequires safety measures in order to prevent explosion or leakage. Ineither case it is difficult to expel the residual gas volume in order toavoid contamination of a subsequent filling.

The general object of my invention is to provide an improved containerfor the purpose set forth which avoids these drawbacks and enables thewithdrawal of precisely dosed quantities of the stored fluid.

A more particular object is to provide a container of this descriptionwhich, being hermetically sealed initially, can be temporarily resealedwith good fluidtightness upon the fracture of the original seal todischarge some of its contents.

These objects are realized, pursuant to my present invention, by theprovision of a container whose flattenable body has two coextensivewalls of flexible sheet material, preferably a stack of laminated layerssuch as metallized plastic foils which are joined together along theiredges in a fluidtight manner, as by cementing or by heat sealing. Forexample, the plastic foils consist of polyester, polyethylene orpolyamides, metallized with aluminum.

Advantageously, according to another feature of my invention, thecontainer is formed with a reduced spout for the discharge of the storedfluid, this spout having a frangible sealed end and being resealable ina simple manner by being folded or rolled back upon itself after its endhas been severed preparatorily to a first discharge. Such a spoutconsists, preferably, of marginally interconnected integral extensionsof the two container walls.

In order to permit the withdrawal of small samples of the stored gas,the body of a container according to my invention may be provided with apatch of self-sealing plastic material such as silicone rubber adheringto a limited area of one of its walls. Such a patch, even when presenton the inner wall surface, does not materially impede the flattening ofthe container to expel residual fluid.

The above and other features of my invention will be described in detailhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a container embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the filled container taken on theline II II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the container as seen from the right in FIG. 1;and

FIG. 4 is a plan view, drawn to a smaller scale, of a blank for making acontainer generally similar to that of FIGS. 1 3.

In FIGS. 1 3 I have shown a container 1 for the storage of low-pressuregases which consists of two walls 1, 1" of flexible sheet materialsealed to each other along their contacting edges 2, 2". The walls 1, l"are multilayer stacks of plastic foils 6, 8, 10 of polyester,polyethylene or polyamides alternating with aluminum foils 7 and 9. Thefoils 6, 8, 10, which have a certain elasticity, could also beindividually metallized on one or both surfaces with omission of theintervening layers 7 and 9. Such a stack is impervious to lowpressuregas but is sufficiently flexible to permit the inflation of theoriginally flat container 1 to a substantially cylindrical form asillustrated in FIG. 2.

For filling and emptying the container, a spout 3 of reduced dimensionsis formed by integral extension 3, 3" of the walls 1', 1", withcontinuation of the marginal seal 2, 2" around the periphery of thespout. The free end of spout 3, originally sealed in this manner afterthe container has been filled;can be cut off along a line 12 to permitthe discharge of some or all of the stored fluid. Thereafter, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the forshortened end can be folded back uponitself to form a temporary seal 11; this temporary seal may bemaintained with the aid of simple means such as adhesive strips or paperclips.

The container 1 shown in FIGS. 1 3 is formed from two symmetrical blanksbut, with slight modification, could also be made from a single blank 13as illustrated in FIG. 4. Blank I3 is simply folded about its centerline0 and is then sealed along the edges, with its spout portion 14 againleft open at the free end thereof until the container has been filled.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 I have illustrated at 4 the outline of a small patchadhering to its wall 1, this patch consisting of a self-sealing materialsuch as silicone rubber which permits the insertion of a probe for theextraction of a sample of the stored fluid. The patch 4, which also actsas a local reinforcement of the container wall at the point ofpenetration, need not be present on the original blank but could bepasted onto the container surface either before or after filling.

A handle 5 has been shown attached to the container body, at its endremote from spout 4, to facilitate carrying or to allow the container tobe suspended from a hook in a laboratory.

In practice, the diameter of the inflated container may range between 10and 20 cm for an overall length of about 50 to cm; the diameter of thespout 3 should be a small fraction of the container diameter, e. g., onthe order of one-tenth thereof so as to range between 1 and 2 cm.Naturally, these dimensions are not critical and may be modified inspecific instances.

The stored gas may have a gauge pressure not more than a fraction of anatmosphere above ambient, e. g. of 0.5 atmosphere when the container iscompletely filled. The maximum pressure, of course, is limited by theinherent elasticity of the container material.

A container according to my invention, as above disclosed, can bereadily shipped by rail, postal trucks and other vehicles,advantageously in cardboard mailing 3 tubes. It is inexpensive toproduce and can be discharged, with or without resealing, by untrainedpersonnel.

As clearly shown in the drawing, the spout 3 extends along a minor edgeof the rectangular outline of thecontainer 1 and is separated from thebody of the container by a cutout forming a constricted neck just aheadof the spout. It will also be seen that the spout, before being outalong line 12, terminates at the lower major edge of the rectangle (asviewed in FIG. 1) and that the neck lies at the opposite, upper majoredge so that a substantial spout length is available for cutting andfolding as described above.

I claim:

1. A container for a small volume of a gaseous fluid releasably storedtherein under low pressure, comprising a flattenable body of generallyrectangular outline with two coextensive walls joined together alongtheir edges in a fluidtight manner, said walls being cut away along partof a first major edge of the rectangle in the vicinity of a minor edgethereof with formation of a constricted neck along a second major edgeopposite the cut-away part of said first edge and a reduced spoutadjoining said neck, said spout extending along said minor edge andterminating at said first major edge in a frangible sealed end, saidspout being temporarily resealable upon fracture of the seal thereof byfolding back upon itself along said minor edge, and a patch ofself-sealing plastic material adhering to a limited area of one of itswalls at a location separated from said spout by said neck.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said walls are composed ofalternating metallic and plastic foils.

3. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said body is provided witha handle secured thereto at corners remote from said spout.

4. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said patch consists ofsilicone rubber.

5. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said walls are part of asingle sheet folded about said second major edge.

1. A container for a small volume of a gaseous fluid releasably storedtherein under low pressure, comprising a flattenable body of generallyrectangular outline with two coextensive walls joined together alongtheir edges in a fluidtight manner, said walls being cut away along partof a first major edge of the rectangle in the vicinity of a minor edgethereof with formation of a constricted neck along a second major edgeopposite the cutaway part of said first edge and a reduced spoutadjoining said neck, said spout extending along said minor edge andterminating at said first major edge in a frangible sealed end, saidspout being temporarily resealable upon fracture of the seal thereof byfolding back upon itself along said minor edge, and a patch ofself-sealing plastic material adhering to a limited area of one of itswalls at a location separated from said spout by said neck.
 2. Acontainer as defined in claim 1 wherein said walls are composed ofalternating metallic and plastic foils.
 3. A container as defined inclaim 1 wherein said body is provided with a handle secured thereto atcorners remote from said spout.
 4. A container as defined in claim 1wherein said patch consists of silicone rubber.
 5. A container asdefined in claim 1 wherein said walls are part of a single sheet foldedabout said second major edge.